Various devices for stopping the movement of vehicles are known in the prior art. Such prior art includes heavy-duty barriers for stopping military vehicles, such as tanks and half-tracks, and other prior an devices which have been designed specifically for stopping automobiles.
Generally speaking, devices for stopping automobiles have taken the form of some type of implement that is placed upon the ground, wherein the implement contains a series of nails or sharp spikes for puncturing the tires. Such devices are disclosed in patents such as Le Duc (U.S. Pat. No. 1,094,226), Sherwood (U.S. Pat. No. 1,721,978), Persgard (U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,229) and Deschenes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,782). A somewhat different tire-puncturing device is enclosed in Chadwick (U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,948), which discloses a number of sharp drive pins mounted on a base plate that is placed by hand against a vehicle's tire, to prevent a non-moving vehicle from being driven away from a given location.
Some rather recent automobile-stopping devices include a "Road Spike System", manufactured by Sherwood International Export Corporation located in Northridge, Calif., which consists of a base strip that lays upon a road surface, and contains a series of vertical spikes for puncturing passing tires. Another tire deflating device uses a series of angular rocking arms which position nails or spikes in a near-vertical direction for puncturing a passing tire, and which is manufactured by Stinger Spike Systems, Inc., of Monticello, Utah. A third tire deflating device consists of two rows of hollow spikes inserted in a four-ply rubber belting which has a segmented metal backing, and is manufactured by Hovey Industries Ltd. of Gloucester, Ontario, Canada.
The implements of the prior art involve sharp spikes or nails which can cause injury to a user if not handled properly. The products made by Road Spike System, Stinger Spike System, and Hovey all come in custom-built metal suitcases, to protect the user from the exposed spikes, and therefore, are not particularly mobile. The tire deflating implements disclosed in Le Duc, Sherwood, Persgard, Deschenes, and Chadwick would also have a similar problem, in that the implements must be handled by the user very carefully, and also must be stored in some safe manner. Each of the prior art implements would require some type of special carrying or storage container, since it is obvious that the implements could not be simply stored in the trunk of a car that is full of other equipment. Since such implements with storage containers are rather bulky, and can be quite expensive, only a select number of police vehicles would likely carry the devices. Therefore, when a need arises to stop a fleeing automobile, only certain police vehicles will have the necessary implements to answer that need.
In addition to the above shortcomings, many of the prior art implements are designed to rest upon a road surface in a particular orientation which can be disturbed during deployment of the implement. If the implement tips over during deployment, then it becomes virtually useless. The Road Spike System, discussed above, is particularly difficult to deploy since it must be unfolded while remaining in an upright orientation.